Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Nanowires on the Surface by Metallo-Supramolecular Truncated Cuboctahedra

Abstract

Parastichy, the spiral arrangement of plant organs, is an example of the long-range apparent order seen in biological systems. These ordered arrangements provide scientists with both an aesthetic challenge and a mathematical inspiration. Synthetic efforts to replicate the regularity of parastichy may allow for molecular-scale control over particle arrangement processes. Here we report the packing of a supramolecular truncated cuboctahedron (TCO) into double-helical (DH) nanowires on a graphite surface with a non-natural parastichy pattern ascribed to the symmetry of the TCOs and interactions between TCOs. Such a study is expected to advance our understanding of the design inputs needed to create complex, but precisely controlled, hierarchical materials. It is also one of the few reported helical packing structures based on Platonic or Archimedean solids since the discovery of the Boerdijk–Coxeter helix. As such, it may provide experimental support for studies of packing theory at the molecular level.

Structural Chemistry of Giant Metal Based Supramolecules

“…The 120°bent diplatinum(II) spacers (DP) predetermine the quite rare truncated cuboctahedral shape of the MOP. 322 10), recently reported by the group of authors from the Guilin Univ. of Technology and Guangxi Normal Univ.…”

“…The polyhedral representations serve not only to simplify the view of intricated molecules but, in some cases, allow the rationalization and prediction of not yet obtained MOPs based on mathematical considerations. 260,321,4,36,322 Sometimes, more than one name is offered in literature for the same polyhedron, which strongly points to the need of a rigorous common classification. For example, the {M 14 } polyhedron, formed by the cube of metal cations with additional metal cations centering the faces (Figure 53, KUJGED), 323 is named "cube" (emphasizing solely the outer cube-like shape), "facecentered cube", "capped (stellated) octahedron", or stella octangula being the most explicit mathematical term.…”

Surfactant-induced chirality transfer, amplification and inversion in a cucurbit[8]uril–viologen host–guest supramolecular system

“…Chiral structures are widely discovered in nature such as amino acids, monosaccharides, and double-helical DNA structures, and they are essential for most forms of life. 1–10 These chiral molecules and assemblies possess unique symmetrical and asymmetrical features, involving replication, recognition, adhesion, and catalytic activities in many disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. 11–13 Chiral supramolecules 14 that consist of chiral/achiral compounds and other building blocks held together by non-covalent interactions ( e.g.…”

On the Many-Body Expansion of an Interaction Energy of Some Supramolecular Halogen-Containing Capsules

“…The molecular self-assembly is one of the most important directions in supramolecular chemistry [ 1 ], and a number of applications of synthetic self-assembled architectures were reported (see recent reviews [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] and references cited therein). Many multicomponent self-assembled systems were prepared, which were surveyed by Yang et al [ 7 ].…”